


The Princess of Gallifrey

by Wibbili_Wobbly



Series: THE STRANGER FROM GALLIFREY [8]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Regeneration, Skaro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27616528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wibbili_Wobbly/pseuds/Wibbili_Wobbly
Summary: A small mistake of a naive girl - a big problem for the whole planet.
Series: THE STRANGER FROM GALLIFREY [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686751





	The Princess of Gallifrey

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Принцесса Галлифрея](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27616223) by [Wibbili_Wobbly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wibbili_Wobbly/pseuds/Wibbili_Wobbly). 



The Doctor was walking around the console periodically switching something; Donna was standing behind, glaring at him.

"So?"

"So what?" the Time Lord didn't even glance at his indignant companion.

"For how long is she going to linger here?"

"I don't understand what are you getting at", he said, still focused on the control panel, routinely bypassing the Stranger's leg hanging from the console.

"You understand perfectly what I mean. So much time has passed since we rescued this madwoman, and you still can't get her off somewhere!"

"See? Just as I say. These Frenchwomen are so nervous", the Stranger calmly took a sip from her thermos.

"And I'm not French! For God's sake, how many times have I told you!"

"Sorry, I only speak Martian", the Time Lady quipped in response.

"Girls, don't quarrel", intervened the Doctor. "The Stranger doesn't interfere anyway. ...Almost. Besides, there is still one question unsolved"

The Time Lady didn't even manage to ask which one as the Doctor looked closely straight into her eyes.

"Why was Gallifrey after you? Why were they hunting you? Why are you claimed to be a political traitor?" he continued torturing her with his glare. "And this time you will not quit answering"

Last time the Stranger successfully sneaked away from all those questions, but now there was no chance. She already opened her mouth to speak, when the TARDIS shook. Then again, and again.   
The machine turned wild, shaking from side to side.   
At the first hit, the Stranger fell immediately on the floor.

"What's going on?!" Donna barely had time to grab onto something so as no to fall.

Doctor clang to the console, looking at the monitor.

"This can't be! It's like... I'm not sure, but there's definitely not that much that could cause the TARDIS to react this way. Hold tight, we'll follow this thing!"

"If you wanted to get rid of me, you could've just asked to leave — killing is not necessary!" yelled the Stranger, clutching at his leg.

The TARDIS finally calmed down.

"Right, that's OK, I'm alive!" the Stranger dusted herself off while getting back on her feet.

"You sound as if it was a good news", Donna muttered.

"So, ladies, quiet!" the Doctor interrupted. "I think it's time to look around and figure out where we've been thrown to"

He walked briskly to the door, leaned out, but immediately got back and slammed the door sharply with fear.

"Let's get out of here"

"What is it?" the Stranger went to the Doctor and pushed him away from the door.

"It's my first love there"

"What?! Who the hell is she?" the Stranger leaned out determinately. "C'mon, show me that b..." she didn't even finish the phrase.   
Instead, just like the Doctor, she slammed the door again, no less terrified.

"Right, don't make me go there too. What's there?", Donna frowned, not understanding a thing

"There's... **Me.** I am" the Stranger replied bewilderedly. " **The very first me.** Before all the regenerations. My very first face", she looked at the Doctor confusedly.

"We need to get out of here. We mustn't disrupt the time flow once more", he headed for the console.

"Wait!" the Stranger called out to him. "We're not going anywhere. I remember something", the Time Lady froze in tension. " Three... Two... One..."

And then there was a timid knock from outside the TARDIS door. Doctor and Donna exchanged glances as the Stranger, without waiting for any permission, rushed to open the door.

***

Outside the door, there was a little girl with curly, lush fiery red hair and millions of distant galaxies twinkling in her eyes. These were nothing like those dim sparks in the eyes of the Stranger's last incarnation. This was where the story of the Time Lady was just beginning.   
The girl was hesitating, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

"H-hi", she said quietly, looking up with her freckled face. "I've just heard the sound of arriving TARDIS, and so this is it. Are you by any chance the Time Lords?"

The Stranger opened her mouth to answer, but the Doctor interrupted.

"No. Nope. Not at all. This is not us. Absolutely not"

The girl felt noticeable relief and became a bit braver.

"But where then did you get...?"

"We've stolen her. We've hijacked the TARDIS", the Stranger perked up and bent down to the red-haired guest. "We are the thieves. Just don't tell anybody, okay?" she smiled tenderly, putting her finger to her lips.

"Oh, really? And I've also stolen my TARDIS. I won't tell anybody, honestly"

"But where's your one then?" the Doctor asked.

"I... I've lost her", the girl cringed, uttering these words barely audibly.

The Doctor glanced first at her and then at the Stranger:   
"And why am I not even surprised?"

The Stranger shoved him slightly.

"Will you help me to find her?" the guest asked with hope.

"Of course we will! That is not even discussed. Don't worry, everything will be jolly good", the Stranger defiantly squinted her eyes in response. She remembered perfectly all that fear, and shame, and confusion she had experienced as this little creature. Now she was trying to do everything to make the girl feel secure.

"A five-minute adventure. Donna, you stay here and watch over the TARDIS"

The companion was about to argue something, but the Doctor interrupted:   
"No, seriously, this is kind of abandoned planet, nothing to be seen here. I'm sure it won't take long. It will be better if you stay here"

The Time Lord strongly believed that this task wouldn't take much time and effort. Besides, he wanted to hear something about Gallifrey from the very first Stranger. Donna sighed and agreed to stay.

"Right, here it is, I stay"

"Great. A five-minute adventure. There and back. Allons-y!"

***

"We never asked your name", noted the Doctor.

"On my planet, names are chosen by their owners. But my father says I don't need one yet. Though, for myself, I've already decided to be _the Runaway_. And who are you?"

"I am the Stranger and he is..."

"John Smith", interposed the Time Lord, who didn't want to reveal himself.

"The Stranger..." repeated the girl thoughtfully. "Cool name, I like it"

"Well, it's never too late to borrow it"

"Oh, by the way, you are from that planet with a beautiful name, aren't you? _Gallifrey_ , right? Is it true you have red grass there? Are there really the three suns in the skies?" the Doctor loved Gallifrey and the very thought that he could plunge into those memories ad the happy old days excited him.

"So? Well, yes", the Runaway dropped, cringing. The Doctor didn't notice this.

"And these majestic buildings, and trees with silver leaves, right?"

"Yup. ...Actually, I don't like Gallifrey. Why, I hate it!" the girl stamped her foot. "Awful place. I'm never going back there. I'm the Runaway because I've decided to leave my home forever without asking. Ugh, let it all burn!"

"Hey, what's wrong with you? How can you ever talk like that about your home planet?"

"I can. I was meant to rule it"

"But how's that? We have a democratic planet", the Doctor interrupted. "Well, you do. There is the position of the Lord President, for which the best representative is selected. How can you now for sure that you were meant to get it?"

"I AM the best representative", the girl replied sullenly. "I was born to take this post. I was raised as an ideal ruler"

"Something like one big social experiment", the Stranger intervened suddenly. "The most appealing ruler will be the one who was bred specially for this"

"Yes", the Runaway picked up. "My father is Lord President. It was he, who came up with such a crazy idea"

"Yeah, I see, so you, in some way, inherit the power over the planet?"

"Well, yes. Sort of a Princess of Gallifrey"

**_"The Princess of Gallifrey"_** , the Stranger muttered under her breath.

***

The lost TARDIS was nowhere to be seen. Only dark gloomy sky and the rocks. Rocks all around.   
The travellers stopped to rest.

"But I don't understand", the Doctor looked at the girl in bewilderment. "Wasn't there at your home at least anything that you really liked? Nature, people..."

"Well, there was something. Someone", the Runaway perked up. " _I have a friend. **The best friend in the world!**_ So funny and smart he is! He's showed me so many amazing things and told me so much about the vast universe"

The Doctor was gazing at her with indescribable warmth, unconsciously smiling broadly.   
He knew perfectly who the girl was talking about. About him, _the Doctor_ , who had been trying desperately to give this prisoner of the Presidential Palace just a gasp of freedom. If only he had heard in those Gallifreyan days how this ginger girl was now talking about him now!..

"I would've never learned so many amazing things", the girl continued. " Everyone wanted to make something out of me, but he... He doesn't want anything, he's just good. He talks so much about stars — I could listen to him for hours'

"We have to pull off", the Stranger interjected until her first incarnation went too far in spilling everything out. "Come on, let's go", she embraced the Runaway with tenderness. "And then, later on, you'll tell me about your friend. Just between us, girls", she smiled and winked, and then threw a short glance at the Doctor.

The Time Lord was dealing with a surge of emotions. Everything now seemed somehow new and unusual. There was a silence in the air all around the place. Neither the Doctor nor the Stranger dared to speak again about the long-forgotten past.

Suddenly the Runaway noticed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver sticking out of his coat pocket. Without any hesitation, she grabbed the device.

"Haha, now that's mine!" she shouted joyfully, waving her new trophy. "Catch me if you can!" the girl rushed to where large stones formed bizarre shapes.

"Hey! Give it back!" the Doctor jerked after her. He ran to the sound of a child's laughter as if returning to those good old days when being a little boy he had been running through the ruby fields after his ginger Runaway.

The Doctor turned around another stone and bumped into the Stranger, who was watching them. Without any hesitation, he ran up to her and hugged tight.

_"Gotcha!"_ the Time Lord said smiling.

***

"Oi, you... Mind personal space", the Stranger said uncertainly and the Doctor let her go. The Time Lady continued: " And one more thing. You've lost me", she meant the Runaway, who was nowhere to be seen or heard indeed.

The Doctor looked around.

"You know, normally I would be delighted, but now..."

The Stranger immediately smacked him on the head without even letting him finish.

Now the Time Lords had no choice but to be searching not only for the TARDIS but also for the lost Gallifreyan child.

The road was not too long, but the Stranger was stumbling now and then, cursing herself from the past, while the Doctor was humming some kind of children's song. The travellers entered a dark cave, illuminating their way with Stanger's Sonic screwdriver.

"Well, actually, it's you. Why don't you remember where you ran away back then?"

"Do you remember how much milk cost in 1986 on Saturday at 12:46?"

"No"

"Well then, stop asking stupid questions. How can I remember — a dozen of lives have passed since then after all!"

The Stranger suddenly ran into something solid ahead. There was a booming iron sound.

"So, what kind of a Mesozoic rotten bit has left a trash bin here?!" the Time Lady raised a screwdriver illuminating the metal case.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" there was a loud, disgusting and so familiar voice. All the light in the cave went out abruptly.

There were the Daleks. But not those that the Doctor was used to, but those that the Stranger could faintly remember. Ones of the very first model.

And this devastated planet appeared to be nothing else but Skaro — the place where the most formidable and ruthless creatures in the entire universe were created. The one's who were meant to destroy everyone who is not a Dalek.

Imagine the surprise of the Time Lords when instead of immediate extermination the Daleks obediently, with unprecedented self-control, led them to one of the few remaining buildings of the half-destroyed planet.

"They don't kill us, which means they need something from us", the Doctor whispered to the Stranger, meekly holding his hands above his head lake any prisoner.

"I don't even know which is better"

They reached a dilapidated building that had survived the recent war between the Tal and the Kaled. Among the ruins, there was a room full of computers and machinery.

"Well, well, well, unexpected guests?" came a raspy voice piercing to the very bones. "Isn't it too many tourists for a forgotten planet?"

***

The Doctor froze in place — he undoubtedly recognized the one who was in front of him. Davros, the creator of the Daleks. Younger than in their last meet but still the same withered and blind old man with an incredibly disgusting voice.   
The Time Lord tensed all over. It was no good: especially the fact that the father of the most dangerous creatures in the universe was now drinking tea with the red-haired Runaway.

"Tell me, little girl, are these also from the great race of the Time Lords that you have already told me so much about?"

The girl looked at the Doctor and the Stranger with a smile on her face, shook her head and sipped from a mug.

"You, stupid, don't you dare tell anything him!" shouted the Stranger but she was immediately interrupted.

"Silence!" yelled Davros. "I don't believe in such coincidences. You clearly have a reason to be here, which means you can provide valuable information. I reckon we can figure out how to extract it from you..."

"Oh, by the way", the Runaway interrupted, "Lord Davros, I still have a friend back on Gallifrey", she pointed at the monitor. "Will you help me to take him with me? He wanted to travel too"

"To take him off your planet, you mean?" Davros drove close to the girl. A plan ripened in his head. "Well, surely we will be delighted to help you and your friend. Do you know where your planet is?"

"Exact coordinates and location", she nodded happily. "In a moment!" she started typing on the keyboard.

"Damn you, little idiot!" the Stranger facepalmed.

"Runaway, don't!" shouted the Doctor but the girl didn't react. "Come on, stop it!" everything was useless. Besides, the Daleks were ready to attack any time. A plan was needed.  
  


"Hey, Runaway, you never told me about your Gallifreyan mate.

"She even told too much", the Stranger rolled her eyes; the Doctor poked at her.

The Time Lord's words clearly caught the ginger girl's attention. She looked away from the monitor.

"Do you really wanna hear about him?" the cosmic eyes shone even brighter; the fragile little bode took a step towards the Doctor. Davros, meanwhile, was busy with the coordinates, so he didn't pay any attention to the conversation.

"Yes, I really want to hear about the lake where you first swam; how you broke the window while playing the ball he had brought; how you were running away from the chickens when he wanted to impress you and started chasing them..."

The girl took a step at him every word, listening carefully and smiling broadly.

_"Yes, please, tell me about the **Doctor** "_

"Wait, how do you know his name?"

"Believe me, **I do** "

The Runaway was already close enough for the Doctor to drag her to him and grab the Sonic screw from her hands. He pointed the device at the huge beams on the ceiling, that immediately fell on the Daleks.

"Run! This won't take them long"

***

They didn't manage to run far; there was no such purpose, though. It was useless to rush to the Doctor's TARDIS, and the Runaway's vehicle was still never found.

"Are you retarded?! Why the hell are you giving them information? Have you seen him at all?! This is some crazy archaic old guy who should've died thirty years ago!" the Stranger yelled at the girl but Doctor interrupted, covering her mouth with his hand.   
The Time Lords were hiding in some dilapidated room and their safety was arguable indeed.

"But... Old guys are never bad", the Runaway retired helplessly, hiding her eyes. Tears appeared in her eyes.

"Do you even understand what you've done? You've just leaked the coordinated of the most powerful race to some pepper-pots who scream 'Exterminate!' all the time. Hundreds, thousands of lives will be in trouble because of you. The planet will be destroyed and, oh, most importantly, your bosom buddy might die as well!"

"Stranger, stop it!" the Doctor shook her by the shoulders and she recovered a little.

"It's not safe to stand here for longer. We have to find a better shelter, and besides, we still have to find the TARDIS" the Doctor turned his gaze to the girl, who was barely holding back her tears. "Don't lag behind"

The Time Lord grabbed the Stranger by the hand; the ginger girl, biting her lip, ran after.

***

The Runaway's TARDIS was eventually found. Luckily or not, in the lab of Skaro. And only Vortex knows what could've happened or had already happened if Davros and his creations had got into it, getting access to all of time and space.

The Time Lords bumped into the Gallifreyan time machine by accident. In search of cover, they hid behind a large iron door. And that was it.

"I recall her! It can't be..." the Doctor took a step forward.

"Yep", the Stranger put her palm onto the metal wall of the time machine. The mechanism made an approving sound. " My TARDIS. She still recognises me after all", she smiled tenderly, looking at this iron cylinder, connected to various devices.   
The Time Lady was about to cry from the warmth, and at the same time, some dreary emptiness that filled her.

_"The first stolen TARDIS"_ , the Doctor drawled, nodding. "Honestly, I didn't believe that you would really dare to steal it"

"Ah, sure. And then he himself followed my very example"

The Time Lords looked at each other.   
The Doctor's eyes burned with childish happiness as if he had gained his lost Gallifreyan paradise.   
The Stranger's eyes were filled with strong and oppressive aversion. This feeling would always accompany her memories of bleak childhood.

"Oi, I'm not a picture for you to gaze into", the Stranger frowned.

"Sorry", the Doctor chuckled. "I just remembered something from the past"

***

The Stranger touched the TARDIS again and froze in shock.

"Me!"

"What? Did you remember something?"

"I... I..."

"What 'you'?"

"We've lost me from the past again, you moron!"

The Doctor glanced quickly around. The Stranger was right: the ginger girl was nowhere to be seen. He got indeed too distracted and endangered the Runaway.

"We can't leave without her. Without me! Oh, where this little one has gone again?! Why have I always been so dumb!" the Stranger groaned painfully.

They couldn't leave the TARDIS here as well as leave without the Runaway. The Stranger remembered each of her deaths, especially the first one. Therefore, she knew for sure: this shouldn't happen here.

"I think I know where she is", the Time Lady said quietly.

The Doctor just frowned. He understood perfectly well that this was no for good.

"But we can't just get out of here. The Daleks will exterminate us as soon as they see us. But I have an idea", he leaned on the time machine. "This is your TARDIS. So come on, open the doors. It's time to take her out of self-defence mode"

The Stranger only raised her eyebrows gradually beginning to understand.   
The Doctor continued:   
"In the TARDIS, you can often find some junk from different planets and time zones. The Time Lords don't mind keeping a few souvenirs. There might be something useful for us"

***

It was bright and clean inside the TARDIS — a standard white room with a console in the middle. Any Gallifreyan time machine looks like this in the beginning.

"I don't know how dangerous these brainless iron buckets called Daleks are right now, but I don't want to test them on the TARDIS", the Doctor said loudly, addressing nowhere in particular. " We want to help you and your young Time Lady. Please give us something to save you and your home planet"

After a short silence, one of the doors swung open. The Doctor's request was heard and accepted. He smiled widely and ran there.   
The Stranger didn't share his enthusiasm. She knew it wasn't her salvation she was now going for. With the same proud and renounced look she had walked up the scaffold in France to meet one of her deaths a long time ago. Through her first incarnation, the Time Lady could remember how this Skaro story was destined to end.   
The Stranger walked slowly after the Doctor.

It was a huge room with a bunch of fantastic gadgets from different planets and times.

The Doctor was against weapons. Always. Without any exceptions. But now it was about the Daleks and the salvation of the home planet. Now millions of lives depended on him. And one more — the most important one.   
The Time Lord found an impressive laser gun in a pile of junk.

"Looks like what we need"

"Yep, but I've found something more deadly", the Stranger declared with a serious far and slowly pulled **a spoon** from behind her.

"The spoon? Really?!" the Doctor snatched the cutlery from her hands. "Come on, this is impossible to fight with. A spoon will never be used by anyone not even in a duel. Be serious", he tucked it into his pocket.

"Okay, okay, right. We don't take melee weapons, got it"

There was no more time. The Runaway and Gallifrey needed to be saved. The Doctor armed himself with the device disabling technical equipment. The Stranger took...

"What is it? Sort of a gun?"

**_"This has to be used"_** , the Stranger replied grimly.

"But you're unlikely to pierce the armour..."

_"This is not for Daleks"_ , the Stanger held a heave glance on a weapon and put it into the pocket.

The Time Lords were ready to defend.

"So, what your last words be like?"

"Allons-y!" giggled the Doctor.

"And don't ask me how!"

The aim was pretty clear: to find the Runaway and stop the Dalek invasion to the Gallifrey. The first point seemed to be far more feasible due to the Stranger's vague memories. As for saving the whole planet...   
The Doctor felt that he had been given another chance to stop the notorious War of Time. Now he was in the very epicentre of events that would entail a series of dire consequences. But is it so easy to rewrite the time?

"Alert! Alert! Intruders have escaped! Invasion on the planet Gallifrey in ten units. Exterminate! Exterminate!" hysterical mechanical screams were everywhere.

The Doctor's weapon couldn't hold the Daleks for long but it gave the Time Lord a chance to get out of their shelter.

"So nice that you've taken a gun with you — it comes in very handy here", the Doctor said sarcastically; the Stranger frowned gloomily in response.

***

The Runaway fearfully got out of her hiding place having heard the terrible news. What does that mean: 'invasion on the planet Gallifrey'? No, this shouldn't be happening. Her Doctor is there on Gallifrey! They should've just run away!

All this time, the ginger girl was hiding in a niche in a wall and just wanted to go home. Not to Gallifrey or the stolen TARDIS. She herself didn't know where to run.   
The Stranger was right — the Runaway ruined everything.

**_"The Princess of Gallifrey!.."_** mumbled the girl in disgust.

She was meant to become a perfect ruler and lead her people to a bright future. Instead, she unleashed the war and endangered the entire planet. One big disappointment!   
She was crying.

"I'm just pathetic. **_Doctor_** , where are you to help me?"

Davros was heading to attack the enemy planet, which "sent" three "spies" to Skaro. Besides, this would open all time and space to him and the Daleks.   
The chances of salvation were dwindling with every second. The Runaway was confused.

"Doctor, please, I don't know what to do. You always knew. _So where are you when I need you so much?_ "

But nobody turned up. The Runaway started realising the hopelessness of the situation. She had exposed too many lives. And now, as a goon ruler, she had to do her best to save them.

"Yes, I can be useful too", the girl took a step towards the main computer.

***

"Here should be all the information I've given to them", the Runaway stared at the panel. "I'm gonna destroy the computer. I'm gonna erase the information. The never gonna find Gallifrey. And they're not going anywhere. I just need to..."

She tried to hack into the main computer but in vain. Even this vast knowledge in the field of technology which had been put into her since very childhood within the walls of the main palace of Arcadia, wouldn't help.

There was the only thing to do, which little girl didn't like at all. She was so afraid of pain. But, like any Time Lord, she had this ability to absorb any energy and information. The Runaway knew firsthand how painful this could be.   
The girl opened the panel.

"I just hope this works"

The red-haired girl gathered all her strength to absorb as much as possible.   
Her whole body felt as if pierced with electric current and her brain felt like tearing apart from all the information received.   
Tears were flowing from her eyes; she was screaming.

"Stranger!" there was the Doctor's voice somewhere from afar but the Runaway couldn't hear it.

"P-please... I can't take this anymore... I don't want to..." the girl squeaked in a weak trembling voice.

At the sight of this, the Stranger froze, shackled with horror. She remembered perfectly this moment of fear and grant pain.

_"I don't want to..."_ she repeated with her lips only.

The Doctor acted quickly. He rushed to the girl. He pulled her away from the panel. She fell wirelessly into his arms.

"Stranger, is she..?"

"We need to get to the TARDIS. They'll come here soon. Davros and the Daleks"

"You think they don't know where we're going?"

"They do. They have much to bother about. We must leave"

"How?" the Doctor asked with a slight smile.

"Oh, you know the answer very well"

"Yeah. But I want to hear it from you again"

"Well then... Don't ask me how"

***

Dozens of Daleks were already waiting for the fugitives.

"Did you really take such a risk to come back here after all?" Davros croaked is a weak voice. "So this machine of yours must worth it indeed. You've given us a lot of problems so far. Time to end it. My children!" he turned to his creations.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" the Daleks pointed their weapons at the intruders.

The Doctor shielded the Stranger with himself.

"Yes, you may destroy us but this will not be so easy. We are **_the Time Lords_** , you can't just kill us once and forever. But you seem to like to take a risk. You've created a race of powerful Nazis who exterminate everything and everyone that is not a Dalek"

"And, oh, what a bad luck", the Stranger added, "you're **by no means a Dalek** yourself. Awkward, innit? You can't destroy us but they can exterminate you"

The guns of the iron creatures were now headed at their creator.

"This is nonsense!" Davros got nervous. But the words of the Time Lord did make sense for the Daleks.

"Not a Dalek! Not a Dalek! Not a Dalek!" spread from all sides.

No sooner had Davros recovered, the three Time Lords slipped into the TARDIS.

"Goodbye, old mate! And good luck on your oldage pension now!" the Stranger happily waved her hand at him and the time machine vanished with the characteristic sound.

The Doctor took over the course, habitually running around the console. He tried to send the TARDIS of the Runaway closer to his one.

"Just don't overdo it, you know what might happen of two TARDIS collide", the Stranger was embracing her ginger girl, who was still unconscious.

"I'll try to"

***

While the Doctor was dealing with the TARDIS, the girl came round.

"Where are we? Is it over? Did I manage?" the Runaway stood up, swaying slightly.

The Stranger nodded uncertainly, although she knew that it was not over yet and there still was one unfinished business.   
There was clearly something wrong with the ginger girl.   
She constantly looked around nervously; her head was aching; the violet space of her eyes had gone out and instead the Dalek eyes occurred.   
Once the TARDIS materialised, the Stranger dragged the Runaway out rudely and with no explanation.

"Let's go, come on, move!"

"W-what's going on?"

"You see", the Stranger uttered regretfully, "Davros is still in the process of making Daleks. When you absorbed information from the system something else got into you. Now you also are becoming a Dalek"

"What?! But... But..." the girl wanted to object but she could really feel it within her body. "Can this be stopped somehow?"

The Stranger sighed heavily and winced shivering all over.

"Do you know, my dear child", she drawled slowly, "that in the process of **regeneration** each cell of a Time Lord's body burns down and is replaced with a new one, purified?" with these words the unwittingly pulled a gun out of her pocket. "Doctor, you've said this gun was useless against the Daleks. Well, one of them can still be defeated"

"No!" the Runaway squeaked pitifully. "I... I don't want to! I just wanted to help! I was trying to be useful, I was saving my people! Please don't do this! I don't want to regenerate — I've decided _never to regenerate at all_. I'm begging you!" the girl was scared and felt betrayed. She had trusted the Stranger so much — perhaps, more than anyone else.

"You can't even imagine how important you are to me. Therefore, I must save you. And you **need** to regenerate before it's too late"

"Well, but what if I fail to do that? What if I just die? _I'm scared!"_

"Everything's gonna be fine, I know this for sure"

Tears were streaming down the Runaway's freckled cheeks. She didn't want it to end up like this but the Stranger remembered it exactly this way. The former Princess of Gallifrey remembered distinctly the first time she died.   
The Stranger slowly raised the gun, which suddenly seemed incredibly heavy, and pointed it at the Runaway.   
The girl didn't mind already. Either from the fact that the mutation took all her strength from her, or that she had resigned herself and decided to trust one last time.

The Time Lady Cohen target properly — her eyes were full of tears, through which the little red-haired figure could hardly be seen. The Stranger's hands were trembling.

Shot. The sound echoed. The girl fell to the ground.

"What?! But I haven't pulled the trigger yet! _It was not me..._ "

**_It was the Doctor._** He was watching from aside and couldn't push the Stranger into killing herself. She wouldn't manage to.

***

"No..." the Stranger whispered barely audibly and turned to the Doctor.

He was standing aside, starting into one point and breathing heavily. He had realised that there was not a minute to lose and the Stranger wouldn't have coped.

The Time Lady crying rushed to the Runaway and crouched upon the girl's lifeless body.

"Leave her. You must let her regenerate alone"

"Never! She's so scared. She already dead but every cell of her body is now struggling. I can't abandon her! What if... What if she fails to do it?.." the Stranger asked in the same childish manner.

"Don't be silly, let's go, it's time for us to escape", the Doctor tried to drag the Stranger away.

"She shouldn't go through this alone!.. _Nobody should._ Especially in the first time"

The Stranger broke free and again clung to the Runaway just to give her the last parting words.

"Don't be scared", she whispered into the girl's ear. "You're not alone. The Doctor is with you. And he will always be. He will find you. And you go look for him", she thought a little and added, **_"And don't ask me how"_**

The Doctor tugged the Stranger back to his TARDIS. The girl now was beginning her own history, in which the two Time Lords would become just accident acquaintances.

"What did you tell her?" the Doctor asked closing the door.

"I gave her some **hope** — the thing she was lacking so badly"

She dashed to the console and stared at the large screen that displayed everything outside including the little girl, who still showed no signs of regeneration. The first death is always more difficult than the next ones, but the Stranger had already begun to worry.

Meanwhile, unsuspecting Donna emerged from a corridor of the TARDIS.

"What the hell is going.."

"Not now, Frenchwoman!"

All three were looking at the monitor. The ginger girl finally began to emit a faint golden glow, and sparks, bright like the sun surrounded her. A few moments later, a blinding light illuminated the darkness.   
Seconds — and the Runaway awkwardly tried to stand up wondering at her new body. It was now a tall pale girl with long white hair. She looked around with her clear sapphire eyes, in which the stars of distant worlds still twinkled.

The Runaway looked around. There was endless gratitude in her eyes for giving her another chance, another life. When all the terrible is over it seems that regeneration is not death at all but birth.

The Time Lady looked at the Blue police box, took a couple of hesitant steps to the door but changed her mind. She returned to her TARDIS. Gallifrey was waiting for its ruler to come back and she knew it perfectly — now clearer than ever. The war with the Daleks was only a matter of time but the Runaway had already completely forgotten about it.

She froze at the door hesitating for a couple of seconds and went inside. The time machine made a familiar metal strum and disappeared.

***

There was silence in the Doctor's TARDIS, which was interrupted by Donna with a passion in her voice:   
"And what will happen next to this girl?"

" _Next?_ " the Stranger asked in an almost ordinary tone. "I'll tell you what will happen next. She will return to her home planet and get a good punishment for hijacking the TARDIS and losing her ferret life. Her friend will not tall to her for another week as it all will have become quite a shock for him. The Runaway will have to die again before coming into power, according to the custom. She will rule successfully but not for long. She'll be going to abdicate and marry the friend of her childhood. They'll be planning to seal the marriage at the Rings of Akaten and pull off to roam the universe together as they've always dreamed. But suddenly the war will break out. And all because someone couldn't erase the coordinates in time", the Stranger with force hit the console with her fist. "Gallifrey will find out the one guilty for these tragic events and it will forgive nothing. At this moment the ruler of the whole planet will become the main enemy, the political traitor and just a Stranger. She will have no choice but to escape the planet — this is what her dear friend will have convinced her of. He will shove her into the very first TARDIS and promise to be searching for four her across the entire universe; he will **_promise never to forget_** her... And she'll never see him again. And they lived happily ever after"

The tense silence was broken only with Stranger's heavy breathing.   
Donna covered her mouth with her hand; she was crying.

The Doctor was staring silently at the Time Lady. He knew that he had brought her a lot of pain but right now, in his own eyes, he became the foulest creature in all of time and space.

"I've become the reason for the death of the entire planet. The greatest disappointment of all my people. Couldn't vote with one single purpose of my whole existence. ...Gonna go have a snack", the Stranger straightened up sharply and went to one of the TARDIS rooms in search of some food. From now on, she will pretend that the little Runaway had never appeared in her timeline. "Oh, and only one thing..." she said before leaving. "Why did you take the gun too?"

"Thought you had a plan that might need backup", the Time Lord answered after a pause.

"Good Doctor", the girl nodded and went away.


End file.
